The Irishman has long been appealing for better but as he hopes his latest signing demands pay off
11:34, 15 Jan 2026Updated 19:42, 15 Jan 2026
'Cut me some slack', sighed Martin O'Neill, as the 73-year-old had his fill of transfer questions aimed in his direction during a post-match grilling after battling past Falkirk.
And who can blame him? O'Neill couldn't have possibly predicted this would be his destiny when Wilfried Nancy unseated him as interim only six weeks ago. But if you think the club icon's plea for patience over signings, or lack thereof so far in January, coupled with praise towards the board is a sign of weakness, then dream on.
If there's a boss who should be spared for eternity from callous tags like 'stooge' and 'lackey' then it's O'Neill, who has spent a lifetime agitating with decision makers above him, to back him in the transfer market.
The veteran has swapped punditry for the pressure cooker of coming out of almost retirement to rescue the club he adores from themselves in a shambolic season that may still prove more disastrous than the aborted pursuit of 10-in-a-row.
O'Neill begged Celtic to move the transfer needle 20 years ago and one particular admission would make collective stomachs churn; both for fans who remember it and a new generation feeling a dreaded sense of deja vu.
The Celtic leader wanted more, in a major way, and made his point perfectly clear in April 2004 after Villarreal downed them 3-1 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup quarter finals.
This was a Hoops side who had heroically battled past Barcelona in the previous round – which still remains the last time Celtic won a knockout tie in Europe 22 years ago – coming to terms with the seismic task facing them in a post-Henrik Larsson world.
Speaking at the airport after the Yellow Submarines sunk their dream of reaching consecutive European Finals, O'Neill was brutally frank when he agreed six signings would be needed.
He said in 2004: "If you assess our situation then that would not be far off the mark. We need new blood and we know it. I've said before we could go and fill the side up with any sort of player at all but that's not what we want. Where we are trying to push into a position where the players are good enough to contest the European scene. That's the point.
Those sentiments encapsulate where Celtic find themselves and the result of O'Neill's appeal makes for brutal reading.
The search to replace Larsson resulted in a summer goose chase which led to Rivaldo kiboshing a trial offer, Marco Amoroso earning a trial and links with strikers across Europe.
It ended in the £1.5million loan capture of Wolves striker Henri Camara – a British transfer record for a non-permanent deal and a massive misstep which was corrected in the January when the Senegal international was dumped and replaced by Craig Bellamy.
Juninho, well past his Middlesbrough pomp was another nightmare arrival, and Stephane Henchoz looked a pale imitation of the player who starred for Liverpool.
O'Neill wanted six, got four and three failed to deliver.
Now, 21-and-a-half years later he's back appealing for help from above and such a paltry hit rate would spark fresh anger from a fanbase on a brink, and will likely prove insufficient in their battle with Rangers and Hearts.
Back then O'Neill was chasing a replacement for an icon in Larsson, now he's ghost-hunting – that's what it feels like within the hunt to replace Kyogo so far gone now, the Japan international even became a target to return, such is the erratic nature of the recruitment in Glasgow's east end.
Paul Tisdale's reign of error was swiftly ended alongside Nancy and now O'Neill is hoping for a better outcome this time around.